Sinker-retrieving jack-spring and operating mechanism



June 30, 1959 V P, KOHLER ET AL 2,892,332

SINKERRETRIEVING JACK-SPRING AND OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 15, 1954 JNVENTOR. P1901. KQHL E1? BYFEEDE'E/ A. Kai/. 1?

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United States Patent ice SINKER-RETRIEVING JACK-SPRING AND OPERATING MECHANISM Paul F. Kohler and Frederick K. Kohler, Clementon, N .J

Application April 15, 1954, Serial No. 423,423

4 Claims. (Cl. 66-110) The present invention relates to jack-springs and operating mechanism therefor in otherwise conventional full-fashioned hosiery knitting machines and other knitting machines using sinkers and jacks in the heretofore conventional knitting machines using sinkers and jacks, the jacks are advanced by the slur-cam, as such slurcam travels across the rear edges of the bank of jacks. The jacks, in turn, push the sinkers forward to their advanced positions. After all the sinkers have thus been progressively pushed forward the catch-bar of the machine simultaneously engages all the butts of the entire bank'of sinkers andwith a single backward stroke pulls all the sinkers back in unison. The sinkers, in turn, push the jacks back, also in unison. The jack-springs merely resiliently maintain the jacks in their advanced or retracted positions into which they are moved by the slurcam and by the sinkers, respectively.

As the sinkers are'relatively thin and are hence guided in relatively thin guide slits, a substantial strain and wear is imposed upon the sinkers and. particularly the slits or grooves of the sinker-head in which the sinkers are slidably mounted, when the sinkers are required to push all the jacks back to-their retracted positions, in unison. This wear upon the sinker-head is further accentuated by the gathering of lint and oil upon the jacks and the separator-plates between the jacks which introduce some added resistance to the motion of the jacks.

The object of the present invention is to relieve the sinkers of the burden of and the wear incident to the pushing back of the jacks and also thereby generally to improve the action and operation of the knitting machine.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the accompanying drawings forms thereof which are at present preferred, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and organizations of the instru mentalities as herein shown and described. a

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts:

Figure 1 represents a vertical cross-sectional view of a knitting machine, showing the parts involved and showing the incorporation in such knitting machine of one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 represents a side elevational view of a jackspring embodying the present invention.

Figure 3 represents a modified embodiment of the present'invention;

The more or less conventional jack-head is composed of the center-bed 1'-'q and the supporting member l-b and the jack-separator-plates 1-c.-- The jack-pivot-rod 3 extends through. .theplates l.c and, serves as .a pivot for the jacks 4, in the manner indicated in Figure 1.

The sinker-head 6-a slidably carries the sinkers 2 2,892,332 Patented June 30, 1959 which are held in place by the sinker-head-top 6b on which the verge-plate 6-c is mounted.

The slur-cam 10 represented schematically progressively advances the jacks 4 in the direction of the arrow 15 as the slur-cam traverses the back edges 16 of the jacks 4, thereby advancing the sinkers 2 in the direction of the arrow 9.

During this advancing motion the catch-bar 7 is raised so that it is out of engagement with the butts 8 of the sinkers 2.

After all the jacks have been advanced, the catch-bar 7 moves downwardly into engagement with the butts 8 of the sinkers 2 and when it has established such engagement the catch-bar 7 moves rearwardly in the direc-v tion of the arrow 17, thereby retracting the sinkers 2 in the same direction, and the latter, in turn, oscillates the jacks to their retracted positions in the direction of the arrow 18.

According to the present invention the spring-bar 13 on which the jack-springs 5 are mounted, and held in place by the cooperating-plate or cap-plate 14, is pivotally mounted, about the pivot 19, on a jack-spring-arm 11, which, in turn, is fixed to the conventional oscillating shaft 20, which ordinarily raises the jack-springs out of engagement with the jacks and returns them into their jack-engaging positions (as the shaft 20 oscillates to-andfro a suitable number of degrees of turn).

The arm 11 is provided with a limiting projection 21.

A limiting screw 22 extended through the spring-bar 13 cooperates with the limiting projection 21 to limit the deflection of the spring-bar 13 in the direction of the arrow 23, about the pivot 19, in relation to the arm 11.

By adjusting the screw 22, this limit of deflection can be correspondingly adjusted. The stop-plate or finger 24,

carried by the spring-bar 13, serves to limit the deflection of the spring-bar 13 in the direction of the arrow 23 in relation to the toes 25 of the jacks 4, and hence limits the engagement-pressure between the springs 5 and the toes 25 of the jacks 4, by not permitting the entire unsupported weight of the entire spring-bar 13 to be exerted upon the springs 5 when in engagement with the toes 25 of the jacks 4.

The jack-spring 5 is provided, at its flattened end,

with the inclined jack-retaining surfaces 26 and 27; the surface 26 engaging the toe 25 of the jack 4 when I the jack is in its retracted position, while the surface 27 engaging the toe 25 of the jack 4 when the jack is in its advanced position, so as to keep it in its advanced position until it is ready to be returned to its retracted position.

spring 5 is caused to engage the toe 25 of the sinker 4, by means of the jack-retrieving hook 28, when the' arin 11 is deflected in the direction of the arrow 29. After" the jack has been so retrieved, further deflection'of the arm 11 in the direction of the arrow 29 disengages the end of the spring 5 from thetoe 25 of the jack 4 because the limiting projection 21 engages the end of the screw 22, and after such engagement the further deflcctionof the arm 11 in the direction of the arrow 29 deflects the spring 5 in the direction of the arrow 29 about the center of the shaft 20 and hence'away from the jack-toe 25.

When the arm is deflected in the direction of the arrow 30 the spring 5 is again brought into hooking en gagement with the jack-toe 25; the jack 4 having been advanced by the slur-cam 10 to its forward position shown in Figure 1.

The oscillations of the arnr 11 and hence the movements of the spring are timed to the motion of the slur-cam and the motion of the catch-bar 7 so that the jack-retrieving motion of the springs 5 will be just slightly ahead of or perhaps even simultaneous with the sinker-retrieving motion of the catch-bar 7, so as to retrieve the jacks 4 in the direction of the arrow 18 without reliance upon the rearward motion of the sinkers 2.

The jack-retaining surface 27 of the spring 5 exerts a sufficient retaining force upon the jack 4 and hence upon the sinker 2, in the forward or advanced position of the sinker 2, as to prevent the sinker 2 from moving backward from its advanced position prior to the time when the catch-bar 7 retrieves the'sinker 2.

border to more surely keep the jack-springs and the hooks 28 thereof in engagement with the jack-toes25, a helical tension spring (or several helical springs) 31 may be operatively interposed between the points 32 and 33 the latter being on the hub of the arm 11, so as to draw the jack-springs 5 downwardly and thereby to augment their gravitational downward tendency.

In another embodiment, shown in Figure 3, the jackretrieving hooks 28, instead of being integral with the jack-springs 5 (a separate hook on every jack-spring) may also be formed separately from the jack-springs 5 in the manner indicated in Figure 3. In this embodiment a single sheet 34 of suitable spring-metal (of suitable thickness and of suitable resiliency) may be used in place of the individual hooks 28, said spring plate having a single right hook 35 at its end, corresponding in cross-section to hook 28 and being disposed in relation to the cam-surfaces 26 and 27 of the jack-spring 5 (Figure 3) as is the book 28 disposed in relation to the surfaces 26 and 27 in Figure 2. Of course the width of the plate (i.e. in a direction normal to the plane of the paper upon which Figure 3 is drawn) is the length of the section of the machine; a separate jack-retrieving spring-plate 34 being provided for each section of the machine if the machine is of multiple-section machine. The plate 34 is fastened beneath the screws 36 by which the cap 14 is normally fastened (one of the screws 36 being shown in Figure 3 though omitted from Figure 1).

If desired, separate or individual hooks 35 may be provided for each jack, each separately carried by its own stem which would be shaped like the cross-section of the plate 34, in which event an additional cap-plate would have to be used on top of the cap 14 to hold the individual wires on the ends of which would be the individual hooks 35.

In this latter form the individual hook-Wires (3435) would be mounted in the same way that the jack-springs 5 are mounted in slots in one plate with a cap plate over them. In this case the top of the cap would be slotted to receive the individual spring-hook-wires (3435) and an additional cap plate placed over them; all held by the same set of fastening screws 36;

It will thus be seen that in each of the two embodiments of our invention shown in the drawings and hereinabove described, the means (28 and 35) for bookingly engaging the toes 25 of the jacks 4 (during the initial backward oscillation of the jack-spring-arm) is carried by the jack-spring-bar, though in the embodiment in Figures 1 and 2 such toe-hooking means (28) is carried by the jack-spring-bar through the intermediacy of the jack-springs (5), while in the embodiment in Figure 3 such toe-hooking means (35) is carried by the jack-spring-bar through the intermediacy of the plate 34; the toe-hooking means (28 and 35) being disposed at the outer ends of such intermediate supports 5 and 34, respectively.

The present invention may be embodied in. other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is. therefore desired that the present embodiments be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, the following is hereby claimed:

1. In a knitting machine including sinkers and sinkeradvancing jacks and a sinker-retrieving catch-bar, a springbar pivotally mounted to an oscillatable arm, means to limit the deflection of said spring-bar in relation to said arm in the return direction of said arm, so as to cause the spring-bar to be deflected in unison and rigid with said arm during the later part of the return motion of said arm and so as to permit said spring-bar to be deflected backwardly of said arm during the advancing motion of said arm, jack-springs carried by said spring bar having jack-retrieving means adapted to engage the jack-toes and to retrieve the jacks during a portion of the return-deflection of said arm and to be disengaged from said jack-toes during the latter portion of said return motion.

2. In a knitting machine including sinkers and sinkeradvancing jacks and a sinker-retrieving catch-bar, a springbar' pivotally mounted to an oscillatable arm, means to limit the deflection of said spring-bar in relation to said arm .in the return direction of said arm, so as to cause the spring-barto be deflected in unison and rigid with said arm during the later part of' the return motion of said arm and so as to permit saidspring-bar to be deflected backwardly of said arm during the advancing motion of said arm, and jack-springscarried by said springbar having jack-retrieving hooks adapted to engage the jack-toes and to retrieve the jacks during a portion of the return deflection of said arm and to be disengaged from said jack-toes during the latter portion of said return motion.

3. In a knitting machine including sinkers and sinkeradvancing jacks and a sinker-retrieving catch-bar, a spring-bar pivotally'mounted to an oscillatable arm, means to limit the deflection. of said spring-bar in relation to said arm in the return direction of said arm, so as to cause the spring-bar to be deflected inunison and rigid with said arm during the latter part of the return'motion of said arm and so as to permit said spring-bar to be 7 deflected backwardly of said arm during the advancing motion of saidarm, jack-springs carried by said springbar having jack-retrieving means adapted to engage the jack-toes and to retrieve the jacks during a portion of the return-deflection of said arm and to be disengaged from said jack-toes during the latter portion of said return motion, and spring means to urge said spring bar towards the said jack-toes.

4. In a knitting machine including sinkers and sinkeradvancing jacks and a pivotally mounted and oscillatable jack-spring-arm, a jack-spring-bar pivotally mounted on said jack-spring-arm, jack-springs carried by said jackspring-bar, in operative alignment with the toes of said jacks, and means carried by said jack-spring-bar for hookingly engaging said toes upon the oscillation of said jack-spring-arm in a direction away from said jacks, thereby to oscillate said jacks away from said sinkers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,730,023 Waechtler Oct. 1, 1929 1,761,381 Zwicky June 3, 1930 1,830,718 Richter Nov. 3, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 577,461. Germany'.... a May 31, 1933 

